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Michael X (1933 – 16 May 1975), born Michael de Freitas in Trinidad and Tobago, was a self-styled black revolutionary and civil rights activist in 1960s London. He was also known as Michael Abdul Malik and Abdul Malik. Convicted of murder in 1972, Michael X was executed by hanging in 1975 in Port of Spain's Royal Jail. ==Biography== Michael de Freitas was born in Trinidad to an "Obeah-practising black woman from Barbados and an absent Portuguese father from St Kitts".〔(Margaret Busby, "Notting Hill to death row" (review of ''Michael X: A Life In Black And White'', by John Williams), ''The Independent'', 8 August 2008. )〕 Encouraged by his mother to pass for white, "Red Mike" was a headstrong youth and was expelled from school at the age of 14.〔 In 1957, he emigrated to the United Kingdom, where he settled in London and worked as an enforcer and frontman for the slum landlord Peter Rachman.〔Nigel Fountain, ''Underground: The London Alternative Press, 1966-74'', London: Taylor & Francis, 1988, p. 8.〕 By the mid-1960s he had renamed himself "Michael X" and became a well-known exponent of Black Power in London. Writing in ''The Observer'' in 1965, Colin McGlashan called him the "authentic voice of black bitterness."〔Didion, Joan (12 June 1980) ("Without Regret or Hope." ) ''New York Review of Books.''〕 In 1965, under the name Abdul Malik, he founded the Racial Adjustment Action Society (RAAS). In 1967 he was involved with the counterculture/hippie organisation the London Free School (LFS) through his contact with John "Hoppy" Hopkins, which both helped widen the reach of the group, at least in the Notting Hill area, and create problems with local police who disliked his involvement. Michael and the LFS were instrumental in organising the first outdoor Notting Hill Carnival later that year.〔Barry Miles (2010), ''London Calling: A Countercultural History of London Since 1945'', pp. 187-90.〕 Later that year, he became the first non-white person to be charged and imprisoned under the UK's Race Relations Act, which was designed to protect Britain's Black and Asian populations from discrimination.〔Eds. (10 November 1967), "Black Muslim Gets One Year in Britain." ''New York Times''.〕 He was sentenced to 12 months in jail for advocating the immediate killing of any white man seen "laying hands" on a black woman.〔Eds. (30 September 1967), "Michael X On Trial For Race Hate Charges", ''The Times''.〕 He also said "white men have no soul".〔Katharine Gelber, ''Speaking Back: the free speech versus hate speech debate'', John Benjamins, 2002, p. 105.〕 In 1969, he became the self-appointed leader of a Black Power commune on Holloway Road, North London called the "Black House." The commune was financed by a young millionaire benefactor named Nigel Samuel. Michael X said, "They've made me the archbishop of violence in this country. But that 'get a gun' rhetoric is over. We're talking of really building things in the community needed by people in the community. We're keeping a sane approach."〔Eds. (29 January 1970) "London Getting a Black Cultural Leader." ''New York Times''.〕 John Lennon and Yoko Ono donated a bag of their hair to be auctioned for the benefit of the Black House. In what the media called "the slave collar affair," Jewish businessman Marvin Brown was enticed to The Black House, viciously attacked, and made to wear a spiked "slave" collar around his neck as Michael X and others threatened him in order to extort money. The Black House closed in the autumn of 1970. The two men found guilty of assaulting Marvin Brown were imprisoned for eighteen months. The Black House burned down in mysterious circumstances, and soon Michael X and four colleagues were arrested for extortion. His bail was paid by John Lennon in January 1971.〔Bill Harry, ''The John Lennon Encyclopedia''.〕 In February 1971, he fled to his native Trinidad, where he started an agricultural commune devoted to Black empowerment 16 miles east of the capital, Port of Spain. "The only politics I ever understand is the politics of revolution," he told the ''Trinidad Express''. "The politics of change, the politics of a completely new system."〔 He began another commune, also called the Black House, which, in February 1972, also burned down in a fire. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Michael X」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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